Christmas Trappings
by Shelly
Summary: Some Christmas decorations are more trouble than they're worth or are they?


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Title: 12 Days: Christmas Trappings 

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Author: Shelly

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E-Mail: NurseZelda@aol.com 

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Rating: PG

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Disclaimer: "Scarecrow & Mrs. King" is the property of Warner Brothers and Shoot the Moon Enterprises LTD. Use of these characters is strictly for entertainment purposes. I can only dream about one day getting paid to do this. Do not redistribute without express permission from the author.

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Summary: Some Christmas decorations are more trouble than they're worth -- or are they?

First Posted: 12/13/02

Timeframe: Christmas, Season Three (just after "Fast Food For Thought")

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Feedback: Expected, please!

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Archive: Permission granted to post at smkfanfic.net, Dix's "12 Days" archive, and fanfiction.net -- any others, please ask permission before posting or linking. Thanks!

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Author's Notes and Thanks: Those that know me know that I'm not a Christmas person. In fact, I've been compared to Lee when it comes to my "love" of the winter holidays. It's due to this that I usually don't write holiday theme stories. However, I was cornered in a bar, almost literally, and was convinced that I could write a "12 Days of Christmas" story. Special thanks to Fling and Dix for betaing this for me. I couldn't ask for better second opinions. Happy Holidays!

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Christmas Trappings

  


"Amanda, do you know where the wreath is? I thought we put it in the box with all the outside lights." 

  
Amanda was sitting on the family room floor, surrounded by ornaments and   
knick-knacks. Raising her eyes to the ceiling, she shook her head at her mother's muffled voice. "I don't remember, Mother. Why don't you come down here and help me with the tree? We can look for the wreath later." 

She looked around the floor at the Christmas treasures she had collected over the years. Some were homemade, by either her boys' or her own hands. Some were store bought and engraved with a name or a year. However, each one held a special place in Amanda's heart. The sound of footsteps shook her from her reverie, and she looked up with a smile as her mother breezed into the room.   
  
Dotty took inventory of the ornamental explosion and rolled her eyes. "Honestly, Amanda. If you don't get rid of some of these, we're either going to have to move to a house with cathedral ceilings or just put the tree in the backyard."   
  
Amanda refused to let her mother's ribbing get to her. "Really, Mother? How about we start with this one?" she asked, holding up a round, hand-stitched snowman. The craftsmanship was easily discernable as that of a first grader, and the initials "A.W." were barely visible on the back.   
  
Dotty gasped and reached for the delicate piece, feigning horror. "You made this for me when you were seven. I wouldn't dream of parting with it!"   
  
"I didn't think so." Amanda warmly smiled at her mother. For all her harping, Dotty loved Christmas just as much as Amanda did, if not more. "Come on, help me check the tree lights." Amanda had risen to her feet, and Dotty had started digging through one of the many cardboard boxes littering the floor when the phone rang. Each looked at the other.   
  
"I'll get it." 

"You'll get it," Dotty chimed in, nearly in unison with Amanda.  
  
Amanda laughed, and Dotty shook her head as she returned to the tangled mess that was supposed to be a string of lights. "I vote we don't let the boys take care of taking the tree down this year," she mumbled.   
  
Amanda nodded in agreement as she answered the phone. "Hello?"   
  
"Are you busy?"   
  
She recognized the husky voice instantly. "That depends," Amanda replied. Picking up the phone, she walked deeper into the kitchen, just out of Dotty's line of sight.   
  
"What could that possibly depend on?" he asked, his curiosity mingling with a touch of exasperation.  
  
Covering the receiver with one hand and narrowing her eyes into a devilish expression, Amanda whispered, "That all depends on what you're going to try to talk me into. I'm decorating the house, and you know how much this holiday means to me, even if it doesn't mean the same to you."   
  
"Whoa," Lee interrupted. "I need you."   
  
Momentarily startled by the bluntness of his statement, as always, she blinked and swallowed. Although she rather enjoyed it when he expressed himself this way, she knew he was speaking in a purely work related manner. Still, it was nice to imagine otherwise. Regaining her composure, she replied, "You need me, huh?"   
  
"Can you come in?"   
  
"No," Amanda responded, matter-of-factly, and then held her tongue. Her response caught Lee off guard, and he stumbled before asking her why not. "The car is in the shop getting an oil change. If it's that important, can you pick me up?"   
  
"I'll be there in an hour." Then, he hung up, without saying good-bye.   
  
Amanda looked at the receiver, frowning at his impertinence. Granted, he wasn't anywhere near as bad as he had been only a year ago, but it still burned her sometimes. She hung up the phone and walked back into the family room to find Dotty nearly mummified with the lights.   
  
"I think I've almost got it, dear," Dotty assured her as she managed to unwrap her foot and effectively snare her arm.   
  
Stifling a laugh, Amanda turned to leave Dotty to her own devices. "Good. I've got to get ready to go. Something came up in the editing room, and they need me to come fix it." She was already walking up the stairs when she heard Dotty call out behind her.   
  
"That's okay, darling. I'll finish up in here!"   
  
*****   
  
Amanda picked up the last of the ornaments and set them aside for later. Dotty had somehow untangled herself from the tree lights and they were now heaped in a pile under the coffee table, signaling to Amanda that she was going to have to try to untangle them as her mother's patience had obviously worn thin. Footsteps creaked above her head as Dotty moved around in her bedroom.

She checked her watch and sighed when she found she still had ten minutes before Lee would arrive. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a bit of green peeking out from under the couch. She reached over and laughed as she drew out a sprig of mistletoe. "Might as well put this up," Amanda said to herself and walked toward the kitchen. Just inside the back door, between the kitchen and the family room, there was a small archway with a nail protruding from its apex. Amanda stretched her arms above her head, struggling to reach the nail when she heard a voice from behind.   
  
"Do you need some help with that?"   
  
Amanda spun around, her arms still high above her head. She breathed a sigh of relief when she realized it was Lee who had walked in. "Lee! You need to stop sneaking up on me like that." She lowered her arms and held out the sprig to him. "And, yes, you can help. See if you can reach that nail up there," she whispered, pointing.   
  
Lee took the mistletoe, his eyes twinkling. He inched forward, closer to Amanda. Reaching above her head, he easily hung the sprig on the nail. When he was done, he slowly brought his arms down, but didn't back up. Amanda looked up into his eyes and found him looking down at her.   
  
"Is that mistletoe?" he asked, his words a coarse whisper.   
  
"Mmm-hmm," Amanda replied. Suddenly, she had no voice.   
  
"You do know what that means?" he asked as he slowly moved closer to her. He placed his hands lightly on her arms and gently pulled her toward him.   
  
His touch, even through the fabric of her sleeves, was like fire. All she could do was nod. He lowered his head, his lips growing ever closer.   
  
"Amanda? Are you still here?"   
  
Dotty's voice shattered the moment like a sledgehammer through fine crystal. Lee jumped back and winked before making a quick getaway out the back door while Amanda took a few, much needed, deep breaths, painted on a smile and replied. "I'm over here, Mother. You just caught me." A chuckle escaped her lips as she realized the irony of her words.  
  
Dotty rushed into the kitchen. "Thank goodness. I was hoping you were still here. Can you get this button for me?" She turned around and lifted her hair up for Amanda, who quickly fastened the button and smoothed the fabric of her mother's blouse. 

Turning to Amanda, she patted her arm. "Thank you, dear. Mrs. Snyder, from down the street, called while you were upstairs. She's going to pick me up to do some shopping. I don't know how long we'll be." Dotty stopped talking and looked closely at Amanda's face. She reached out and touched her cheek. "Are you feeling okay? You look flushed. You're not coming down with anything are you? I hope not, it would be just like you to catch something before the holiday parties get under way."   
  
"I'm fine, Mother. Just a little hot from all the moving around we've been doing all morning." Amanda started to turn away when she caught Dotty's eyes wandering to the green sprig above her head.   
  
With a smile, Dotty looked at her daughter and winked. "You'd better be careful, standing there like that. You're liable to get kissed."   
  
Amanda choked out a laugh. "Oh . . . what? The mistletoe? Who's going to kiss me in the kitchen?" She shook her head and shooed her mother toward the front door, grabbing her purse and shoving it into her mother's hands along the way.   
  
"Who indeed! Maybe you should sew it to a hat and wear it out?" Dotty turned in time to catch the mortified expression on Amanda's face. Satisfied, she winked and opened the door. "It's just a suggestion," she added as she closed the door behind her.

"Who, indeed," Amanda repeated as she slowly turned her eyes back to the kitchen.   


Merry Christmas!


End file.
